Last month my friends in the band Slow Bloom asked me to shoot some promo shots for them for their upcoming single release and album. Their new video can be seen HERE. We ended up finding multiple awesome places to shoot at The Phoenix Theater in Petaluma from the back parking lot area full of graffiti, back green room area, the attic, then even some up on the roof.
Here are some of my favorites from that day.
Wolf & Bear Summer 2017 Tour /
I spent most of June this year on the road with my friends in Wolf&Bear, documenting the tour along the way. It started in California, then went to Oregon, Utah, Colorado, Texas, Arizona, then back to California. Was an awesome few weeks meeting lot of new people along the way, and lot of fun long drives in the van.
Hope to do lot more tours in the future, specially since I picked up the 16-35mm Zeiss wide angle lens along with a 3 axis stabilizer for video stuff :). Majority of this tour was just shot on my Zeiss 55mm, while it's an amazing lens, the wide angle just looks so much better in most venues.
We had a good amount of downtime some days so we usually tried to find cool little places to just chill and hangout at like this skatepark, where we did some impromptu group shots. When we were in Colorado we got to stay at a friends house and they showed us around to a few cool spots (Wish i took more photos while wondering around town). But we did get to hike around a little bit and see some awesome views.
Here's a slideshow of some of the other photos from the tour.
Engagement Shoot 10-21-17 /
An old friend from high school hit me up about doing some engagement photos for him and his fiance. I couldn't pass up the opportunity, and I've wanted to shoot more stuff like this already so the timing was perfect. We went out towards the little town of Tomales near the coast, then decided to go to a few places out in Point Reyes since we were near by.
Here are some of my favorites from that day.
2016 Recap. /
2016 was a weird year overall but there were definitely some amazing times throughout the year. Had some awesome opportunities and trips, I'll try to keep this short and just make a short list of some bigger things that happened throughout the year and let the photos do the talking :).
* Drove my $1400 Subaru thousands of miles down HWY 1 to LA then straight to Death Valley for a few days then back up HWY 1 to Petaluma. Took the car on some of the craziest off roading I've ever done and it did the whole trip with no problems ^_^.
Walking on the massive salt flat (Bad Water Basin) which was 282 feet below sea level was insane. Same goes for the massive sand dunes that just seemed to never end. Then of course all the amazing views along HWY 1 both going down there and heading back home are always breathtaking.
* My friends in Wolf&Bear brought me along on there first mini tour that went to CA, NV, and AZ. Something that I've always wanted to do and hope that I can do lot more of in 2017. Just something about being able to document each night with photos/video and taking those long drives crammed in a van to the next destination. Here's a couple photos from that and a video I threw together at the end of it all.
* Stairway to Heaven / Hawaii trip in October. Didn't take all that much photos with my camera during this trip. But my brother and I decided to attempt the Stairway to Heaven climb/hike which is one of the most amazing things I've ever done. We decided to go in the afternoon even though most people go there between 3-5am when it's easier to sneak in.
Luckily we just talked to the guard and said we'll suffer the consequences if there are any when we come back down, but we were lucky and got out safe. Despite the dozen or so signs saying no trespassing and government property haha.
** There were tons of other little adventures throughout the year as well. Countless day trips up the coast trying to find cool new spots, concerts in S.F. or Sacramento, Point Reyes and all the other places that the bay area has to offer. Here are a couple of my favorite photos from this year.
I was lucky enough to be able to get out and see this ship out at Bodega Bay just a day or two after it got stuck on shore and got this shot which is one of my all time favorite photos.
This was taken during the Perseids meteor shower, even though there aren't any meteors in this shot haha. Heather and I decided to head out and drive up the coast around midnight or so til we found a good spot to shoot since it was pretty foggy in Bodega Bay. We got lucky after driving for awhile and found this spot that I pulled off on the side of HWY 1 for a couple hours.
The beginning of this year had lots of random day trips and drives, one day we ended up finding this awesome place. House was falling apart but we still had to go through it.
I made a bad decision during May/June to trade my beloved wagon for a subaru SVX...which ended up blowing up on me on the way home. I decided to keep it still and fix it up some...then finally realized I needed my wagon back so luckily the guy traded cars back with me. He got new tires and a new(used) transmission out of it. Here's the SVX along with a recent photo of how my wagon looks now :).
Glad that 2017 is finally here and I can't wait to see what it brings. Already got a friends wedding to shoot, and hope more photography opportunities come my way soon. Hope everyone has a good 2017!
Washed up boat - September 13th, 2016 /
I found out that this boat drifted onto shore when Heather told me about it. I knew that I had to get out there as soon as I can to shoot it before it got towed away. Heather and I decided to go out there at night for about an hour so, it was clear at first but it quickly began to get cloudy and foggy. Hopefully i'll get out there again sometime soon while the boat is still there :).
Wolf & Bear Mini Tour April/May 2016. /
I was lucky enough to tag along with my friends in Wolf & Bear on a little tour they did around CA with a date in NV and AZ. It kicked off with a hometown show in Orangevale at The Boardwalk.
Next stop was in Fresno, CA at Dynamite Vinyl. Smaller venue but it was still fun and more up close and in your face which is definitely a good thing.
From Fresno we made a quick stop at In n Out then headed straight through the night to Las Vegas, NV. I wish that I took more photos while in the van, the sunrise over the mountains while driving towards Las Vegas was amazing. Finally had some time to rest when we were there. Walked the strip for awhile before we headed to the venue.
After the show we had some a little time to hangout in Vegas before we had to drive to Arizona. Ended staying up most of the night playing roulette and Black Jack. The drive to Arizona was really pretty as well. We ended up going to a tattoo shop since 3 of the members were getting tattooed that morning. Some other stuff was happening that we had to deal with but eventually we were still able to make it to the venue with time too spare.
LifeLink
The next morning after getting a decent night sleep for once we made our way back towards LA. On the way though we stopped by Tyler's families house and had an amazing breakfast and got to relax there for a little while before the long drive ahead.
Here's a little video I threw together of random clips I took throughout the tour as well with all raw audio :). Even in a packed van and not being able to sleep at times, this was one of the most fun times I've had. I've always wanted to do something like this and thanks to them I was able to. Hopefully i'll be able to go on bigger tours in the future.
Wolf & Bear, A Lot Like Birds, and more. - March 11th, 2016 /
When I first saw the lineup for this show, I knew I had to make the drive to Orangevale no matter what and shoot it. I've shot most of the bands that were playing at some point in the past couple years, but a couple of them had line up changes new music released since then. A newer local band from Sacramento (A foreign affair) opened up the show, then another local band who sounded really good but sadly I didn't get to shoot played right after them.
Next up was Wolf & Bear who I shot 2 times prior to this show and got to be good friends with within that time. They were recording a music video during their set so they had the entire crowd going crazy and shouting along to every song. Their was even an inflatable raft that they brought so people could crowd surf in it. I managed to put down my camera for a few minutes and grab the raft myself and jump into the crowd. It was a little scary at first when the raft was tossing and turning but eventually everyone kept me up and i moved to the back of the room. The entire band always puts on an amazing energy filled shows, especially Marcus and Tyler the two vocalists of the band who have lots of crowd interaction. Here are a bunch of photos from their set.
Next up was Stolas, The Ongoing Concept, Hail The Sun, and A Lot Like Birds.
Point bonita Lighthouse - March 30th, 2015 /
Heather and I headed out to the Marin Headlands to adventure around for a little while since we had the day free and we heard about this lighthouse from a friend earlier that week. Gotta walk a little bit but then you end up going through the little cave that you see in the picture below.
Once you walk through the little cave and continue along the path for a few more minutes you end up here.
Then you have to walk across the long bridge that is right above water and was really windy when we went there. Totally worth the amazing views once you get down there and get to the lighthouse :).
Highway 1 Southbound drive - January 5th, 2015 /
Heather and I both had the day off so we needed to go on some kind of adventure. We decided to go to Pacifica where there is a wooden taco bell sitting on the beach that even has a walk up window for people at the beach.
After having a little lunch we just continued driving south on highway 1 where we stopped at a beach in Pescadero where the first 3 photos were taken. We continued to drive until we got to Pigeon Point Lighthouse just a little bit before sunset and it made for some amazing photos. Then on the way home of course had to stop at In n Out and Krispy Kreme in Daly City :).
Point Reyes Drive - January 3rd, 2015 /
My girlfriend and I decided to go on a little drive and ended up going towards point reyes and partially of the way to the Lighthouse that is out there. We ended up stopping at the Nicasio Reservoir where the first 3 photos were taken. In Point Reyes we got coffee then drove a little while longer until we pulled off to the side of the road and ended up on a little beach where I took the last photo.
Anberlin - The Final Tour /
Anberlin is currently on their final tour which wraps up at the end of next month in Florida on November 26th. You can view the rest of their dates on the tour and purchase tickets HERE. They're calling it quits as a band after that, but Stephan Christian (lead singer) is continuing to make music with his solo project Anchor & Braille.
This had to have been in the top 3 concerts that I've ever been to. Anberlin has been one of my favorite bands since the very beginning and it's sad to see them call it quits. Everyone who was at the show were really big fans though and it showed because the entire crowd screamed along to every single song that they played.
Yosemite - June 7th, 2014 /
Went with my parents and my brother on a little weekend trip to Yosemite. It's been about 3 1/2 years since the last time I was at Yosemite and I always forget how massive and beautiful it is there. We left really early Saturday morning and got to the park around 9:30am and had the rest of the day to wander around and see everything that we could.
We got to see a few different waterfalls throughout the day, two of which me and my brother climbed up tons of rocks to pretty much get right underneath them. Got to see a lot of the park while just driving around as well. Near the end of the day we went up to Glaciers Point which is the highest point (I think) in Yosemite and that is where I took the picture of half dome.
The 1975 - Ace of Spades, Sacramento, CA /
The 1975 came to Ace of Spades in Sacramento on April 21st and I knew I had to be there to finally see them live and shoot some photos. Been a fan of them for quite some time so this was a show I was looking forward to since the day it got announced. The 1975's live show is amazing, tons of energy and awesome lighting. Here are my favorite photos I took that night.
First blog post - test /
I've been meaning to redo my website for awhile now, my old site was slightly broken and just didn't work out and was sloppy.
I shoot a lot of concerts around the Bay Area and also at Ace of Spades in Sacramento
I love to shoot everything though whether it be landscapes, cars/drifting, portraits, or anything else that comes my way.
